Mauritius' Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth declared a state of environmental emergency on Friday as the Indian ocean island battled to contain an oil spill.
Hong Kong was calm early Thursday following the Christmas holiday which saw multiple arrests after clashes between anti-government protesters and the police
Tear gas, pepper spray, water cannon and other weapons marred Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, where riot police came out in force to quash night-time protests in the Asian financial hub.
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: Japan and the European Union have signed a free trade agreement that will cover a third of the global economy, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says.
Australia's prime minister warns the nation to prepare for 'brutal truths' as a long-awaited report into allegations of war crimes by its Special Forces troops during the Afghan conflict is set to be released
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been appointed an honorary member of the German PEN Centre, a writers' association which advocates freedom of speech.
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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has visited the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, close to the front lines, becoming the first German Cabinet member to see the area first-hand.
Amnesty International has called on US authorities to drop the charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and urged British authorities to release him immediately
Italy's government on Friday announced a nationwide lockdown for the end-of-year holidays after experts warned the country was still at high risk from the coronavirus epidemic
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Italy will close all shops, bars and restaurants, except pharmacies and food stores, as part of further efforts to contain the coronavirus, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says
A new species of lizard discovered in Machu Picchu has been named Proctoporus optimus after the character Optimus Prime from the "Transformers" movie franchise, which was partly filmed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Peru's Conservation Authority has said.
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: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be investigated over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a UN rights expert has concluded, citing "credible evidence."
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Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC says it plans to construct a semiconductor plant in the German city of Dresden with a total investment sum of €10 billion
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: All flights at Germany's Hamburg Airport are suspended due to a threat of an attack on an aircraft from the Iranian capital Tehran, an airport spokeswoman tells dpa.
Imported cases of the new coronavirus in South Korea jumped from 47 to 67, Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Tuesday, as overall infections increased by just 76 over the past day.
Pope Francis has landed in Canada for his six-day trip, his first since the bodies of mistreated Indigenous children were discovered near Canadian institutions run by the Catholic Church.
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The Catholic Church in Germany will officially be able to hold blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples from March 2026, an assembly focussed on reforming the Church decides.
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The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been categorized as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization in the eastern German state of Saxony, the domestic intelligence service there says.
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In response to the expulsion of German diplomatic staff, the government has banned Russia from operating four consulates general in Germany, a Foreign Office spokesman says in Berlin.
BREAKING: The European Commission says it is sending a legal notice to Britain for failing to contribute 2.7 billion euros (3.2 billion dollars) in customs duties to the European Union.
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Hungary is to become the first EU member state to face a cut in EU funding due to rule of law violations, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says
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Austrian vice chancellor and far-right leader Heinz-Christian Strache resigns following the release of a secret video in which he is seen offering government contracts in exchange for political support
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The member states of the European Union do not recognize the result of the presidential election in Belarus, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says.
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The German naval frigate Hessen, deployed to Red Sea as part of an EU naval mission to protect shipping, has repelled an attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen for the first time, according to dpa sources
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: German Chancellor Angela Merkel calls for the eventual creation of a European army, echoing a similar call by French President Emmanuel Macron
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Poland will apply to the German government for permission to supply the German-made Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced.
Senior German diplomat Boris Ruge is to become NATO assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy, a spokesman for the military alliance said.
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The president of the United Arab Emirates has issued a decree formally cancelling a law on the boycott of Israel, after a deal normalizing relations between the two countries
The German rail operator said "sabotage to cables which were vital for train traffic" led to the disruption - and security authorities have taken over the investigation. More details to follow
A gunman killed one person and injured several others in an attack inside a lecture hall at Germany's oldest university in Heidelberg on Monday, security sources told dpa.
Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani has pledged to donate ¥1 billion ($8.6 million US) in humanitarian aid for Ukraine. "My thoughts are with you and the people of Ukraine," the head of Japanese online trading giant Rakuten says.
Greta Thunberg is about to reach Lisbon and says, "It feels unreal. I'm of course very happy to reach land again." She will continue to Madrid to attend the UN climate conference COP25.
"Kiev is not completely surrounded. The Ukrainian army is fighting hard in the outskirts and the Russian army has many casualties," mayor Vitali Klitschko tells German tabloid Bild.
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: Berlin has approved the delivery of 400 German-made anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, government sources tell dpa, in a reversal of its ban on sending lethal weapons to the conflict zone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says that a key document required for the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be withdrawn, making approval of the pipeline impossible.
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: The head of Germany's navy has resigned amid furore about comments he made that Russian President Vladimir Putin deserves "respect" and that the Crimean Peninsula "will never come back" to Ukraine, the Defence Ministry confirms.
Palestinian musicians stage a protest concert in a ruined part of Gaza City as an alternative to the glittery Eurovision Song Contest that is under way in Tel Aviv
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: NATO plans to mobilize 90,000 soldiers for a manoeuvre aimed at deterring Russian aggression, in the biggest exercise staged by the alliance since the end of the Cold War, dpa learns.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba branded Russia worse than Islamic State in comments to Times Radio cited by Britain's Press Association (PA), and said it is possible its military actions could amount to genocide.
Germany has supplied a third powerful IRIS-T air defence system to Ukraine as the country braces for another possible Russian missile onslaught this winter.
The German government has said it will wind down the deployment of the Bundeswehr peacekeeping troops in Mali in an orderly manner, despite the West African country's military rulers demanding the forces be withdrawn immediately.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrij Melnyk wants Western fighter jets and warships in addition to tanks, following a US pledge to provide Patriot air defence systems.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has been unanimously re-elected leader of the Civic Democratic Party.
The 57-year-old received all of the 510 valid votes cast at a party congress in Prague.
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: The European Commission has begun an infringement procedure against Hungary over the country's controversial law on foreign-funded non-governmental organizations
Switzerland will ban the wearing in public of burqas, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women, and other full-face coverings, after a referendum showed a narrow majority in favour of it
Hollywood actors Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning and Salma Hayek are expected to attend the Berlinale, as well as US politician Hillary Clinton.
MORE: Constitutional judge Brigitte Bierlein is set to be Austria's first female chancellor, after a video scandal led to the collapse of the previous government.
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The Swiss public prosecutor has opened criminal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino over alleged secret meetings with the head of the federal prosecutor's office, officials announce
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: A Belgian judge has suspended the process of extraditing Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain, the Belga news agency reports.
Germany intends to provide Ukraine with 45 more Gepard, or Cheetah, anti-aircraft tanks by the end of the year in its defensive struggle against Russia.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised the steps taken to strengthen democracy in Thailand under the new civilian government as positive progress during his visit to the country.
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German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier are planning billions of euros in financial aid to help companies and employees affected by the coronavirus outbreak, sources say.